ULCINJ: The Seanema Film Festival is organising competitions for short films and for feature films in its 5th edition, set to take place in Ulcinj, Montenegro, from 18 to 22 September 2019.
Film festival Nordisk Panorama will once again host the dok.incubator preview, an exclusive showcase of eight outstanding documentary features just before their premiere. The films developed in the rough cut workshop explore different themes – complex social issues as well as personal dramas – yet unite in creating social and creative impact around some of the current global and national issues.
Films from the previous dok.incubator editions have had a lot of success. This year The Worker’s Cup, a documentary about migrant workers inside Qatar’s labor camps, has been nominated for Emmy Award. Another project, A Woman Captured, received a nomination for European Film Awards in 2018 and many of them premiered at prestigious festivals such as Sundance, Berlinale, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, etc. It is no surprise that this year’s preview of films which includes five projects from Eastern Europe, is highly anticipated.
Documentary Acasa, My Home (RO, FI, DE) follows the dramatic change in the life of Enache family which is chased out from the wilderness of an abandoned communist reservoir and forced to adapt to the big city. Epipo, Our Land (HU, FR) is a film about a child abuse scandal that forces the film director on a personal journey to reconstruct her troubling childhood memories about her admired summer camp and its charismatic leader.
Film The Earth is Blue as an Orange (UA, LT) tells a story of a family coping with the daily trauma of living in the front-line war-zone of Donbas and facing down hardship with remarkable resilience. On Your Marks! (SK, CZ) follows the participants of Sokol, a movement that gathers thousands of people every six years in Prague to create impressive mass gymnastic performance. Lessons of Love (PL) is a portrait of an older lady that escapes from an abusive marriage and tries to find happiness doing everything she has ever dreamt of – dancing, writing song and even falling in love again.
In Själö (FI), the director Lotta Petronella, researches the past of the island and its previous residents, from mentally ill women locked in the asylum to scientists researching the nature of the island. Film Once Upon a Time, Congo Mirador (VE, UK, BR) tells the story of once prosperous Venezuelan village which is now decaying and disintegrating – a small but prophetic reflection of Venezuela itself. Cuban Dancer (IT, CA, CL) describes a journey of a talented student who after leaving Havana, has to find his way in the bourgeois and elitist world of American ballet while remaining faithful to his roots.
The dok.incubator preview will be the final opportunity to see the just-about-to-be-released films before they screen at international festivals. The event takes place on Sunday September 22nd at 9.30 a.m in Cinema Panora in Malmö.
For more info about presented projects: https://dokincubator.net/selected-projects-2019/#international_projects
Follow the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2092472414379634/
AWARD CEREMONY – 19 SEPTEMBER 2019
Toulouse will host the 30th edition of Cartoon Forum, the unique co-production platform for European animation series from 16-19 September.
85 new projects from across Europe will be pitched. This year 24 countries will be presenting their projects to about 1000 producers, investors, distributors, buyers, SVoD/VoD platforms such as Netflix, WarnerMedia, Playkids or Hopster TV...
Along with the presentation of projects, this key event for the European animation sector will host the ceremony of the Cartoon Tributes, which are professional awards for the most positive and influential broadcaster, investor/distributor and producer of the year.
The 2019 Cartoon Tributes nominees are:
> BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR
CZECH TELEVISION (CT) | Czech Republic
RADIO TELEVISIÓN ESPAÑOLA (RTVE) | Spain
RTBF-OUFTIVI | Belgium
SKY | United Kingdom
TVP ABC | Poland
> INVESTOR/DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR
ATMOSPHERE MEDIA | Germany
CYBER GROUP STUDIOS | France
FERLY | Finland
KIDS FIRST DISTRIBUTION | France
TELEGAEL | Ireland
> PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
GRAPHILM | Italy
MIYU PRODUCTIONS | France
PANIQUE! | Belgium
STUDIO SOI | Germany
XILAM ANIMATION | France
A total of 15 companies are among the nominees for these awards, French companies coming up most with 4 nominations, followed by Belgium and Germany with 2 nominations each. Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom are also present with 1 nomination each.
For France:
- CYBER GROUP STUDIOS
Cyber Group Studios is selected as Investor/Distributor of the Year.
- KIDS FIRST DISTRIBUTION
Kids First Distribution is nominated as Investor/Distributor of the Year.
- MIYU PRODUCTIONS
Miyu Productions is competing as Producer of the Year.
- XILAM ANIMATION
Xilam Animation is selected in the Producer category.
For Belgium:
- RTBF-OUFTIVI
RTBF-OUFTIVI is competing as Broadcaster of the Year.
- PANIQUE!
Panique! is selected as Producer of the Year.
For Germany:
- ATMOSPHERE MEDIA
Atmosphere Media is selected as Investor/Distributor of the Year.
- STUDIO SOI
("Room on the Broom", "The Gruffalo's Child", "Trude's Flatmate", "The Little Boy and the Beast", "Klump" among others)
Studio Soi is selected as Producer of the Year.
- CZECH TELEVISION (CT) (Czech Republic) is a public broadcaster. Currently it operates 6 channels, two of them – ČT1 and ČT2 – are the nationwide channels. In 2013, Czech Television’s new kids’ channel "ČT:D" was launched as a Free TV digital channel broadcasting every day from 6 am to 8 pm. Animation represents 54% of the content and 2824 hours per year. CT offers colorful, entertaining, contemporary and inspiring content – not only educational programming but also high-quality entertainment, series and movies as well. ("Chico Chica Boumba", "The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales", "The Jungle Bunch", "Ernest & Celestine", "Dimitri", among others.)
- RADIO TELEVISIÓN ESPAÑOLA (RTVE) (Spain) is Spain’s largest multimedia group. The RTVE Corp. is entrusted with the mission of guaranteeing state-owned public radio and television services, offering objective & plural information, encouraging democratic participation & debate, effectively promoting culture, knowledge, child protection, gender equality and social & territorial cohesion. With 6 television channels and 6 radio stations, RTVE aims to serve the widest audience.
("Monchihi", "Simon", "Lunnis", "Momonsters", "Mya Go", among others) - SKY (United Kingdom) is one of the Europe’s leading entertainment companies, serving 21 million customers across five countries. Sky is focused on proving the best entertainment service for the whole family. This includes kids as well as grown-ups with a recently launched dedicated kids app and a renewed commitment to investing in even more shows that kids will love, starting with Morph later this year. ("George & Paul", "Pirata & Capitano", among others)
- TVP ABC (Poland) has been launched in 2014 as a part of the largest broadcaster in Poland, public television TVP. TVP ABC’s offer includes as well as programmes for pre-schools, youth and their parents but the main target is 4-12. TVP ABC broadcasts about 18 hours of programmes a day, as well as animation (80%) produced in European countries and from all over the word, along with educational programs/magazines. ("Masha and the Bear", "Super Wings", "Heidi", "Florka's Diary, among others)
- FERLY (Finland) is an entertainment company based out of Helsinki, Vancouver and LA. The company specializes in storytelling through TV, film, digital products, licensing and publishing with a team that has achieved the impossible many times over.
- TELEGAEL (Ireland) invests substantial sums annually in high-quality film and television content – animation and live action. It operates one of Ireland’s largest animation studios specialising in scripting, design, storyboards, voice record, sound design, picture & sound postproduction. Telegael’s productions have been licensed to over 150 territories and translated into more than 40 languages. It works with broadcasters including Cartoon Network US & Europe, Disney, ZDF, CITV, NickToons, KiKA, France 3 & ABC. ("Lexi and Lottie", "Yoyo", "The Wild Adventures of Blinky Bill", among others)
- GRAPHILM (Italy) is an award-winning production firm founded in 1988 specialised in animation for entertainment and advertising. As leading Italian studio, it is internationally active to develop its properties in line with market trends and demands, uniting art, industry, cartoon tradition and new technologies. Graphilm will present its new TV series project "#In the Middle" at the 30th Cartoon Forum. ("Boo Boom the Long Way Home", "Nefertine on the Nile", "Hanukkah", among others)
About CARTOON FORUM
Created in 1990 to boost the co-production and distribution of European animation for television and new media platforms, Cartoon Forum has helped 782 animation series obtain financing to the tune of over 2.7 billion Euros.
The main partners of Cartoon Forum Toulouse are Creative Europe - MEDIA, CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée), Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region, Mairie de Toulouse, Toulouse Métropole, Casino Barrière and France Télévisions.
About CARTOON
CARTOON is an international non-profit association based in Brussels organising Cartoon Forum, along with Cartoon Movie, a co-production forum for feature-length animation; and the Cartoon Master training seminars.
- International press: Gerardo Michelin - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- French press: Nathalie Collin – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Selected projects gallery: http://www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-forum/cartoon-forum-2019/discover-the-projects-2019-1.htm
- High res stills http://www.cartoon-media.eu/home/press-login.htm
password: cftoulouse2019
SOFIA: Milko Lazarov’s sophomore feature Ága has been selected as Bulgaria’s candidate for the 92nd Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award in the best international feature film category. This Bulgarian/German/French coproduction had its world premiere out of competition at the 68th Berlinale IFF and it was awarded Best Film both at the 36th Fajr IFF and the 24th Sarajevo FF.
FNE Oscar Watch 2020: Bosnia and Herzegovina Selects The Son as Oscar Bid
Bosnia-Herzegovina 11-09-2019SARAJEVO: The Son by Ines Tanović has been selected by the Association of Filmmakers of Bosnia and Herzegovina as the country’s candidate for the 92nd Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award in the best international feature film category. The film is a coproduction between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, Montenegro and Slovenia.
LJUBLJANA: Sonja Prosenc’s sophomore film History of Love / Zgodovina ljubezni has been selected as Slovenia’s candidate for the 92nd Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award in the best international feature film category. The film is a Slovenian/Norwegian/Italian coproduction.
Over 200 guests from 25 countries will attend the 3rd edition of the Forum, including 100 foreign guests from Europe and abroad.
We are especially proud of strong representation of sales agents, distributors and TV stations.
Pitchings of 27 European film and TV projects for children will be observed by 17 sales agents including representatives of: Arri Media (Germany), Attraction Distribution (Canada), Beta Film (Germany), Charades (France), Copenhagen Bombay (Denmark), Dutch Features (the Netherlands), Filmrepublic (UK), IKH Picture Promotion (Poland), Indie Sales (France), Level K (Denmark), Media Move (Poland), New Europe Film Sales (Poland), Picture Tree (Germany), Pink Parrot (Spain), SF Studios (Sweden), Silkway Films (Germany).
Sales agents and distributors will have an excellent opportunity to network and connect with a group of distributors represented by: Centar (Serbia), Dandeloo (France), Farbfilm (Germany), FilmCentrum (Sweden), Folketsbio (Sweden), Galapagos (Poland), JEF Distribution (Belgium), KMBO Little (France), KT Film&Media(Macedonia), Millimages (France), Monolith (Poland), Next Film (Poland), Packmagic (Spain), Radar (Croatia), SUPERights (France), Wanted Cinema (Italy).
There will also be an opportunity to talk to TV representatives from: Arte Junior (France), Canal + France, Hopster TV (UK), KIKA/ZDF (Germany), NDR (Germany), NRK Super (Norway) Polsat (Poland), RAI Ragazzi (Italy), Turner (UK), YLE (Finland), Nickodelon (Russia).
Among invited guests, there are private investors and producers interested in contributing to European cinema for children and young audience, including guests from India, Canada, Ukraine, Germany and UK. We will also host organisers of festivals and events for children represented by: Cinekid, JEF Festival,Żlin FF, Athens International Children's FF, Golden Sparrow IFF, CEEA Forum and Pop Up Film Residency.
Producers looking for financing or attractive locations can talk to representatives of local film funds and commissions, including: Polish Film Instutute (PiSF), Łódź Film Commission, Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission, Krakow Film Commission, Podkarpackie Film Commission, Silesia Film Fund.
Detailed programme of Warsaw Kids Film Forum is available on our website.
Apart from a rich pitching offer, this year’s schedule includes: workshops, script and legal consultations, co-pro breakfast, trip around Warsaw and a script masterclass.
Early Bird accreditations are available HERE until September 9th
Warsaw Kids Film Forum is an industry part of Kids Film IFF.
Join us in September!
VENICE: FNE together with FIPRESCI have invited FIPRESCI critics in Venice to rate the films in all four of the official competition programmes of the festival giving the films 1,2,3,4 or 5 stars. The ratings provide an overview of what critics in many different countries think about the programme.
NICOSIA: Paul Lambis is currently in casting with 74, a feature film based on his original theatrical production under the same name. The English-language drama about the Turkish invasion of Cyprus will be shot on location in Cyprus in 2020.
BATUMI: Ten titles have been selected for the International Feature Films Competition of the Batumi International Art house Film Festival (15-22 September 2019).

